[SatNews] With the component replacement on the Ariane 5 ECA launcher and the associated checks now being completed, Arianespace can set the date for its next launch, VA217, using an Ariane 5 ECA to orbit the ABS-2 and Athena-Fidus satellites.

Athena-Fidus, one of the two passengers for Arianespace’s upcoming Flight VA217, undergoes pre-launch checkout at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Liftoff of the Ariane 5 ECA launcher is now slated for Thursday, February 6 at 5:30 pm local time in Kourou, French Guiana (3:30 pm, in Washington D.C., 20:30 UTC, 9:30 pm in Paris, and on Friday, February 7 at 5:30 am in Hong Kong).

The following launch, VA216, carrying the Astra 5B and Amazonas 4A satellites, is scheduled for March 7, 2014.

The first launch of the Soyuz rocket this year from the Guiana Space Center, VS07, carrying the Sentinel 1A satellite, is set for March 28.